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Re: Turntable Hype

198.103.184.3

Posted by Pat D on September 13, 1999 at 16:52:21

In Reply to: Re: Turntable Hype posted by Dan Bonhomme on September 13, 1999 at 07:15:08:

Your equipment looks to be very good. The Bryston preamplifier has an excellent phono preamplifier, and I have heard good things about the Heybrook turntable. The subjective reviewers seem to like your DAC, and in any case, I have no reason to fault it.

Most of my best recordings are on CD, though I have a number of excellent ones on LP.

As for the rest, you say so many things I disagree with, it is hard to know where to begin.

In the first place, I simply said that I could equalize the two Telarc recordings to sound about the same in both formats, and that I applied the EQ to the LP version. The point is that the difference was mostly in the frequency response, and you have not shown any differently. Of course, if I turned the volume way up, the LP would be noisier than the CD, no question about it.

The cause of a difference in sound could, however, be any number of things, such as the master tapes used, or the mixing.

Again, since the only thing that was different was that I played two recordings in two formats, LP and CD, I see no basis whatever for concluding that there was something wrong with the "system." If you think it might have been the phono preamp, the one in my old receiver was very flat. I have some test records, and my cartridge goes not have any droop in the high end, either. The CDP was, of course, virtually ruler flat, tested with a Pierre Verany test disc.

Where you get the ideas that applying some EQ to the extreme high end is going to upset something you call "phase integrity," and that if it did, it would have an audible effect, I am not sure. TAS, Stereophile, UHF? Anyway, I see no reason to accept your opinion on this, and in any case, I do not use the EQ in my current system.

If we compare our experiences, then mine has just as much validity as yours or Phil's. If it comes down to a matter of taste or preference, then there's no argument. If you prefer LPs to CDs, I do not see how you can logically conclude that the digital medium at fault. How do you come to this conclusion? How do you eliminate other factors? I asked the same question above, and I believe Phil's answer is basically that he does not have a method for doing so. It is still possible that both of you are right, but neither of you has provided convincing reasons.

The system in question was my old one. It was with this that I had performed the test. The turntable was a BIC 980 with a Grado F3E+ cartridge, and the CDP was a Yamaha CDX-2. My receiver was a Harmon Kardon 730, and the speakers were Kef 104s (this was the old, large bookshelf type, 2-way with a passive radiator). The EQ was an ADC Sound Shaper II, original version. I can't remember whether I had the 12 guage wire at that time, but the interconnects were non-descript. If I were to repeat the test, I would pay somewhat more attention to level matching than I did then. The speakers were wide range and quite neutral, though not as neutral as the Quads, and could project a consistent image, with a wide and deep image, with many good recordings.

Now, let's see, someone is going to jump in and complain that this would not have sufficient "resolution," a nice optical image. Then, of course, I read another post, which I can't find, which says that all one has to do is find a decent $500 turntable and cartridge combination to blow away any CDP (that would be like the UHF position, wouldn't it?).

For playing LPs and CDs, my current system has a Denon DP-60L turntable with a Grace F9E cartridge; a Rotel RCD-965 BX CDP; a Quad 44 preamplifier; a Quad 606 amplifier (original version); Quad ESL-63 loudspeakers; a Paradigm PW-2500 subwoofer with a Mirage LFX-1 electronic crossover; old Angstrom 12 guage speaker cables about 23' long; and non-descript interconnects. I don't use the an equalizer with this system.

Are you trying to play "my system is better than your system," Dan?

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